


Acquired Information

by TheLonelyJournalKeeper



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Adventure, Canon Compliant, Conversations, Friendship, Gen, Headcanon, Male-Female Friendship, One Shot, Platonic Soulmates, Present Tense, Spaceships, Team Dynamics, Team as Family, as far as i am aware, mute character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-06-14 18:53:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15395223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLonelyJournalKeeper/pseuds/TheLonelyJournalKeeper
Summary: Failsafe is the first to disrupt the silence. “Friendly Ghost,” she says in her usual helpful voice. “Why does the Captain never speak to me directly?”





	Acquired Information

**Author's Note:**

> I've only played Destiny II and I haven't "completed" it. These are just some headcanons and thoughts and feelings I wanted to share because I love the rapport between the Ghost and the Guardian. It may or may not be compliant with the canon lore.

The Guardian is asleep on the floor of the Exodus Black, taking a well-deserved break from her adventures. Outside, the Vex swarm and congregate on the surface of Nessus, their intentions as uncertain as ever, but inside the Exodus it is safe—as safe as can be expected on Nessus at least.

The Ghost is grateful for it. He can heal his Guardian as much as necessary, but nothing can replace actual well-earned rest, and the Guardian has been roaming the face of the Unstable Centaur for hours now with her Ghost by her side. 

Failsafe promises to keep watch while the Guardian rests, and for a few hours, it is peaceful aboard the remains of the Exodus Black. Failsafe’s mainframe hums softly as she processes information and searches for unusual Vex activity to convey to the Vanguard. The Ghost is doing some processing of his own, going over the data they have managed to gather that day and checking up on correspondences. 

Failsafe is the first to disrupt the silence. “Friendly Ghost,” she says in her usual helpful voice. “Why does the Captain never speak to me directly?” 

“I’m sorry, what, Failsafe?” the Ghost says, startled out of his processing by her question. He cancels his analysis of Vex movements and stops his theorizing about Cabal plans to listen.

“I said, ‘Why does the Captain never speak to me directly?’” Failsafe repeats cheerfully. “Does she just not like me or something?” she says in her warped, malfunctioning voice. 

“Oh, it’s nothing personal,” Ghost says. “She’s been like that ever since I’ve met her. She never talks to anyone. Not to other Guardians, not to you, not even to me.” 

“Why is that, Friendly Ghost?” Failsafe asks. “Is she unwell?”

“I don’t think so,” Ghost answers. He ought to know if she were. “She can hear just fine, and she shouts when she fights. She just doesn’t talk.” 

“Then how do you communicate?” Failsafe asks. “You always seem to know what she is thinking.” 

“We have an understanding,” the Ghost says. “She doesn’t need to talk for me to know what she means.” He can interpret the furrowing of her brow that means _I don’t know what you want me to do_ or _This isn’t where I meant to go_. He understands the sharp intake of air that signals excitement ( _Let’s take out those Fallen_ ) and how it’s different from the rapid beating of her heart that means fear ( _That’s the most Vex I’ve ever seen in one place before_ ). He recognizes the quiet, gentle shaking of her shoulders that indicates laughter, and he takes pride in being able to elicit it more often than anyone else. 

Some of this he knows comes from being bound to her as he is. Having revived her as many times as he has, he is acutely aware of the way she operates—how her vitals speed up in the midst of combat, the exact length of time it takes for them to return to normal after a fight. But most of it is learned, information he has spent many years acquiring through careful observation of his Guardian over the course of countless missions.

In summary, he says, “We’ve known each other a long time.” 

“Yes,” says Failsafe. “That seems to be true of all Guardians and their Ghosts.” 

“It is,” he says. 

“The Captain is lucky to have you,” she says. 

“Why do you say that?” Ghost asks. 

“You can do all the talking for her,” she says. 

“I suppose that is true,” the Ghost says. “I never thought about it like that. We’re a team. I can talk, sure, but she can fight.”

“You are perfectly complementary,” Failsafe says. 

“The Traveller knew what it was doing,” Ghost agrees. “Most Ghosts don’t talk very much.” 

“I know,” Failsafe says. “That is why you are Friendly Ghost. The Cayde Unit’s Ghost was much less friendly.” 

The Ghost laughs. “Spending that much time with Cayde would do that to you.”

The two fall silent, and the room is quiet but for the whirring of machinery and the breathing of the sleeping Guardian.

“Friendly Ghost,” Failsafe says, breaking the silence once again. “I have another question.” 

“What is it, Failsafe?” 

“Does the Captain have a name?”

“Of course she has a name. Everyone has a name,” the Ghost says. 

“You do not have a name,” she points out. 

“Okay, every Guardian has a name,” he corrects himself. 

“But you do not know the Captain’s?” Failsafe says. 

“No, she told me once,” the Ghost says. “Back when we had just met she wrote it down for me.” He remembers it well, but he doesn’t think about it often. To him, she has always been his Guardian, just as he is her Ghost. 

“But you do not call her by it?”

“No, I—She has never seemed to want me to. She’s always just been ‘Guardian’ to me.” 

“I understand,” Failsafe says. “To me, she is ‘Captain’.” 

“Yeah,” Ghost says, though the matter is curious to him. He’s always called her Guardian out of respect, but he means it fondly too. Would it be odd to call her by her name? But perhaps, she doesn’t want anyone to know her name. After all, as far as the Ghost is aware, he is the only one who knows it.

He picks up on the sound of movement behind him, and he swivels to find the source. The Guardian has stirred from her sleep, sitting up and blinking as her eyes adjust to the dim lighting of the Exodus Black. 

“Sorry, did we wake you?” the Ghost asks. “You can go back to sleep.” 

But the Guardian shakes her head in a way he knows mean _No, you didn’t wake me_ and rises to her feet. With one gloved hand, she beckons him forward in a way he knows means _Come on. A new adventure awaits_. 


End file.
